Do you know your three R's?

Sustainable Riverdale

By Mary Bandziukas
info@riverdalenature.org

Riverdale and Kingsbridge residents are successful recyclers. According to the city Department of Sanitation, almost 20 percent of the residential waste stream in Community Board 8 - which covers the Riverdale- Kingsbridge area - was recycled in fiscal year 2007. The citywide average is 16.5 percent. The citywide goal is 23 percent.

Recycling reduces the cost of waste disposal and reduces the use of resources in the manufacture of new products. A sustainable community, however, depends on its residents to not only recycle, but to also reduce consumption and waste and to reuse resources.

It's time to learn more about the three R's: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Reducing can really be effective. A writer for the Natural Resources Defense Council reported last year on findings by the Union of Concerned Scientists that "7 … categories [of goods and services] are responsible for the lion's share of environmental degradation: cars and trucks; meat and poultry farming; crop production; home heating, hot water and air conditioning; household appliances; home construction; and household water use and sewage treatment." Reducing consumption in these areas will have a huge impact on the need for energy and raw materials.

Consider ways to reuse items that aren't always recyclable and that we can't easily do without. Children's toys, particularly big, plastic toddler items, housewares, clothing, some indoor or outdoor furniture, books and many other items are often still in great shape when we no longer need them. Give them longer life by passing them along. You might also be surprised to find a treasure of your own.

Recycling doesn't stop at the curb. Electronic recycling events are held periodically throughout the city. Batteries are collected by retailers who sell them. Plastic bags are now received for recycling by supermarkets and some other large retailers. Composting is a way to recycle almost all the organics your household produces.

Together, the three R's have huge, wide-ranging impacts.

Mary Bandziukas, a Queens resident, has worked for more than 15 years as an urban planner and environmental program manager. She has been a consultant with the Riverdale Nature Preservancy for the past decade.

Sustainable Riverdale appears in the third issue of the month. It is the work of the Riverdale Nature Preservancy, done in conjunction with The Riverdale Press and the Natural Resources Defense Council. Have an issue you'd like to see addressed? E-mail newsroom@ riverdalepress.com, and put Sustainable Riverdale in the subject line, or write to The Riverdale Press, 6155 Broadway, Bronx, NY 10471.

This is part of the September 18, 2008 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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